Page:The life and adventures of James P. Beckwourth, mountaineer, scout, pioneer, and chief of the Crow nation of Indians (IA lifeadventuresof00beckrich).pdf/324

306 "to lay alongside" my old friends the Black Feet, and wipe out one or two old scores I had marked against them. I invaded their territory with my little force, and marched on, admonishing my spies to extreme vigilance. We came in sight of a village, and secreted ourselves till the proper hour of night. On our march we discovered a single Indian. Some of the party called him to them, and clubbed him down and scalped him. He had mistaken us for his own people.

At midnight we visited their herd, and drove out six hundred and forty head. A number of their best cattle were tied at the doors of their lodges and in their corrals. I arrived home safe with my booty, and, as I had taken one scalp, we had a great dance. All our other parties were very successful, excepting one. That was one that had gone on an expedition against the Arrap-a-hos. Pine Leaf was in the number. They had taken about a thousand horses, and, having reached a distance that they supposed safe, they slackened their pace, and were proceeding carelessly along. Suddenly their pursuers came in sight—a strong posse comitatus—and retook all their animals except those that bore the fugitives, and killed three of their comrades. The heroine came back in mourning, looking like the last of her race.

One of our victorious parties brought back fifty boys and girls whom they had captured while gathering fruit. Since the loss of our three thousand horses to the Black Feet we had captured six thousand, two thousand five hundred of which had been recovered from the Black Feet.

We now moved on to the Yellow Stone, and crossed it, the villages still keeping together. We then journeyed on slowly in the direction of the fort, trapping and hunting all the way. We kept a vigilant eye upon our prisoners, for fear they might attempt an escape to their own tribes, and thus bring upon us a foe when we had no time to attend to him.

This was a very productive fall for peltry, and we sent in great quantities to the fort in advance of our arrival. I remained at the trading-post nearly the whole of the winter. In the early spring the Crows sent for me to rejoin them. I went, accordingly, and found that their long-continued good fortune had suffered a reverse. They had grown careless in their ex-